SOTU: Small balls and a wounded warrior gets stabbed in the back

Last night’s State of the Union (SOTU) address showed a small man talking about small ball issues in order to promote a political agenda. And a wounded warrior with ten combat deployments was trotted out to make political points, even as he was being stabbed in the back by the very politicians applauding him.

In my opinion, there was only one honest moment last night — not a dry eye when Army Ranger SFC Cory Remsburg, who had 10 combat deployments, was honored. SFC Remsburg was injured during a roadside bomb attack in Afghanistan and received a thunderous standing ovation. Remsburg represents the best of America, a commitment to service and sacrifice for our Republic.

However, on the House floor were those who voted to cut SFC Remsburg’s annual one percent cost of living adjustment until he reaches the age of 62. You see, SFC Remsburg is a service disabled medically retired veteran who will be affected by the Budget Compromise that President Obama lauded in his speech. As well, the Obama administration has increased the bureaucratic red tape for veterans submitting their claims. Lastly, President Obama’s administration has decided to close 189 Tricare service centers that assist our veterans and their families with their medical claims.

How could those people clap for SFC Remsburg, knowing they inflicted more wounds by stabbing him in the back?

That is the essence of hypocrisy and sadly, how I saw last night’s theme.

Here’s what else I saw.

A confrontational Barack Obama sought to position himself against Congress in order to make gains for the mid-term elections. Obama truly believes he doesn’t have to seek a legislative solution and can go it alone.

Obama has comfortably taken the position of “bystander” over the past five years. But the travails of the American people have been a direct result of his policies. In addition, while already suffering from a lack of credibility and integrity, he only exacerbated the problem by offering up even more false statements.

Early into the speech Obama took a shot at Republicans regarding ending any discourse that results in a “government shutdown” or that threatens the “full faith and credit” of the United States. Yes, that was his one positive moment in 2013.
But it was also meant as a warning shot as America is about to hit the debt ceiling again in February, where he says he will not compromise.

And speaking of the debt — which was $10.67 trillion when President Obama took office and is now $17.3 trillion – he never mentioned it at all. Wonder why? After all, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mullen, said it was the number one national security issue facing America. Oh well.

Obama focused on income inequality, extension of unemployment benefits, increase of the minimum wage, and women’s compensation – issues all about political gain. It was “Uncle Sugar” in full flower, and if you don’t follow his lead, you’re certainly a hater. However, it has been under his watch that the incredible income gap has expanded.

He spoke about corporate and stock profits rising. Perhaps the president should have addressed the $85 billion per month the Federal Reserve is printing in order to sustain an economy that is failing. Those dollars are not making it to Main Street and as a matter of fact, they cause a creeping inflation affecting our spending power.

The President touted the low unemployment rate at 6.7 percent, If it’s that great, why do we need to extend unemployment benefits, as an emergency? And for the 11th time? We should be talking about policies that get Americans back to work, not extending their unemployment.

I agree with the President that it’s great a small business owner decided he could increase the minimum wage of his employees. But that’s the business owner’s decision, not the president’s. And what about those business owners who have cut workers’ hours because of Obamacare? We need policies that enable business owners to make the right decisions for their employees, not top down government driven mandates by pen.

And until we solve our unemployment situation for Americans and those here legally, why do we need to flood the workforce with those here illegally? Our workforce participation rate is the lowest in approximately 40 years. Putting illegal aliens into the workforce will further depress wages and hurt segments of our society – particularly in the black community, where unemployment is at a chronic state. But it’s a great political issue if you want to win the Hispanic vote. And by the way, the word “comprehensive” means passing legislation over 1500 pages long that no one reads.

President Obama talked about Iraq and Afghanistan as “wars we are ending.” Oh really? Does the enemy know that? Again as a bystander, Obama has been absent in engaging Hamid Karzai in outlining a future mission in Afghanistan, similar to his absence with Iraqi President al-Maliki.

Obama hardly mentioned the terrorist group that was “decimated and on the run” and has now taken control in Fallujah and Ramadi. President Obama was hard pressed to convince Americans that Iran can be trusted and the nuclear deal is good for our nation. And Obama’s threat to veto any new sanctions against Iran is not aligned with the will of Congress nor the American people.

It took Obama almost 45 minutes to mention Obamacare, and the president repeated the lie about 9 million Americans signed up – a bogus claim for which Glenn Kessler at the Washington Post recently awarded 3 Pinocchios.”

Oh, and this is great — according to the president, climate change is a fact. I had no idea he was also a weatherman. But maybe that does makes sense…after all, his great pal Bill Ayers was part of the Weather Underground.

Meet Allen West

Allen West was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia in the same neighborhood where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once preached. He is the third of four generations of military servicemen in his family.

During his 22 year career in the United States Army, Lieutenant Colonel West served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was a Battalion Commander in the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, and later in Afghanistan.